With distinctive and dynamic vocal artistry, unique and original songwriting skills and wide range of influences and inspirations, Jennie Laws has emerged as a beautiful and brilliantly talented new arrival on the cutting edge of today’s music.

Yet for all her extraordinary gifts, the Toronto-born singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist is perhaps most notable for her ability to bring it all together in one accessible and appealing package. Small wonder word of mouth has been spreading steadily since Jennie Laws first began recording and performing, both in her hometown and for a growing fan base from New York to Los Angeles and beyond.It’s a buzz that’s about to grow a lot louder with the release of her debut EP. Featuring such Laws originals as “Heavenly,” “I Just Wanna Be Close To You,” “So Deep” and “My Soul,” it’s a collection that effortlessly spans musical genres while at the same time laying claim to a style that is wholly and completely her own. Mixing contemporary urban grooves with folk-flavored nuances and jazz-tinged flourishes, Jennie Laws has fashioned an alluring soundscape that draws on a lifetime of music making and points to a promising future for this passionate and polished young artist.

“It took me a while to realize that the music going around in my head ever since I can remember was there for a reason,” says Jennie. “As much as it is about entertaining people, it’s also about creating positive energy and spreading love. There’s a purpose to what I do and that’s the most important element of the songs I write and sing.”

It’s a purpose to which Jennie has been wholeheartedly committed ever since she can remember. “Music has always been there,” she explains. “Some of my first toys were musical instruments and although I experimented with acting and dancing and athletics, by the time I got into my teens I realized that music had a special place in my life.”

It did indeed and with characteristic determination, Jennie pursued it wholeheartedly, joining a series of singing groups, studying classical guitar and, at age sixteen, recording early originals on a four-track machine. “My influences are literally too numerous to mention,” she laughs. “It begins with Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Louis Armstrong and then carried on to artists like George Michael and Michael Jackson. By the time I got to college, it was like I was carrying a musical encyclopedia around in my head; everyone from Duke Ellington and Miles Davis to Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder. I’ve also always admired artists like Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper and Lenny Kravtiz for the way in which they were able to build a solid base, one fan at a time.”

It was at the Southwestern School for Musical Vocations in Iowa where Jennie plunged into an intensive study regimen that included courses in arranging and conducting as well as ample opportunities to perform with fellow students. “I toured with school jazz vocal and instrumental groups,” she remembers, “and in between I was getting a great classical education. But the most important lesson I learned at the time was to never settle, to always strive to make the most beautiful music I possibly can without letting the ego get in the way.”

Check out this EP, available on CD Baby:

It was a realization that she would carry with her into the next stage of her musical apprenticeship, when she received a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee School of Music. “It all came together there,” she continues. “My natural inclination was toward a very earthy, gypsy style, which got filtered through the World Music I was exposed to – Latin, Indian and African – as well as hip-hop and R&B and even some classical influences like Ravel and Debussy.” Jennie absorbed it all and, in the process, began to fashion a sound that, while mixing and matching a broad range of approaches, was still unmistakably her own.

The result is Jennie Laws’ stunning debut EP. Showcasing her evocative and emotionally resonant singing and songwriting, the collection also boasts a impressive roster of supporting talent, including engineering by, among others, Grammy-winner Ari Raskin, and Juno-winner L. Stu Young.

Through it all, Jennie Laws had maintained her belief that music can bring wholeness and healing to the world. “My goal is simple,” she concludes: “To make the best music I can.” It’s a goal she’s reached and exceeds on her debut EP.

June 19 2008 The Supermarket (268 Augusta Ave.) Toronto, ON

Singer-songwriter Layah Jane is a hearty young musician with a mission. With soulful vocals and a poetic, articulate tongue, Layah’s sound recalls Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones and Ani Difranco, with a resonance all her own.
Both piano and guitar became tools for writing and accompaniment as Layah began to create and perform original material at the age of thirteen. Since the completion of her first demo in 2000, Layah has been invited to play countless shows and festival showcases including the Rochester International Jazz Festival, Winterfolk Festival, North by Northeast Music Festival, Toronto Indie Music Week, Toronto City Roots Festival, the Ottawa Folk Festival, and New Music West. Following the release of her debut album Grievance and Gratitude (Grace Note Records, 2005), Layah won a CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award, a Toronto Independent Music Award for “Best Jazz” and nomination for “Best Live Acoustic Act”, and a nomination for an American Independent Music Award in the “Folk/Singer-Songwriter” category. Her song “Reverence and Ridicule” won the political category in the Ontario Council of Folk Festival’s 2005 songwriting competition. Recently Layah received a 2007 Ontario Independent Music Award (Best Folk), and nominations for two 2007 Toronto Independent Music Awards (Best Folk and Best Female Fronted Band). Layah’s new EP Patience (Grace Note Records, 2007) was produced by Oliver Johnson (Ivana Santilli, Esthero), and was musically blessed by drummers Davide Direnzo (Holly Cole, Jacksoul), Ben Riley (Bruce Cockburn) and Lyle Molzan (Jann Arden), bassist Marc Rogers (K’naan, Philosopher Kings), and percussionist Dave Gouveia (Amanda Marshall, Ivana Santilli). Both Provincial and Federal grant programs continue to recognize Layah’s musicianship and support her projects, through the Ontario Arts Council, and FACTOR. The Grievance and Gratitude Remixes (Grace Note Records, 2005) took the folk song seeds planted on Layah’s debut recording Grievance and Gratitude, and grew them into flowers that bloom compellingly in colours of breakbeat, trip-hop, hip-hop, rock, sam

ba, and reggae. The tracks were produced by a diverse and well-respected tribe of remixers. Layah Jane has been seen and heard as a live and recorded back-up vocalist for a range of artists making folk, funk, soul, and hip-hop music in the Toronto area. Over the past ten years, she has also appeared as a lead and back-up vocalist on various commercials and Juno-nominated albums. In the realm of television and radio, Layah’s songs have been licensed for Global TV’s “Blue Murder”, and ESPN’s primetime drama “Tilt”. Layah appeared on Toronto 1’s late night entertainment TV show, “The Toronto Show” in 2003, and on Calgary’s A Channel’s “Wired” in 2005. Through regular college and CBC radio play, as well as a fortunate invitation to be the voice of the Dove Real Beauty/Self Esteem Fund’s 2006 “True Colors” TV Campaign, listeners all over the world are being introduced to Layah Jane through the airwaves. Morphing from singer-songwriter to DJ, Layah co-founded the Move Collective, a Toronto dance jam that spread west to Calgary and east to Halifax. Voted Best Non-smoking Dance Event in Toronto by Now Magazine in 2003, rotating DJs pack dance floors each week. Armed with new tunes that are as organically rich and sonically intimate as ever, Layah completed a Summer/Fall 2007 tour of ON, QC, NY, VT, MA, NC, and TX, and is currently preparing for a Spring 2008 cross-Canada tour, in support of her highly anticipated sophomore full-length recording, “Brightness & Bravery”. Layah Jane is a spirited and natural performer who receives enthusiastic support wherever she plays. When she takes the stage we are transported to a place where emotion is raw, reflection is deep, and revolution is not only possible, but necessary.

Grab all of her albums from CD Baby!

25 May 2008 20:00 The Slice Bar and Grill Lethbridge, AB
4 Jun 2008 20:00 Healey’s – Toronto Ind. Music Award “Best Live Act” Competition Toronto, ON
7 Jun 2008 20:00 Moonshine Cafe Oakville, ON
20 Jun 2008 20:00 House Concert Peterborough, ON
28 Jun 2008 18:30 Toronto City Roots Festival Toronto, ON
1 Jul 2008 20:00 Good Sounds Good Showcase – Supermarket Toronto, ON
12 Jul 2008 20:00 Knox Acoustic Cafe – with Brian Macmillan Owen Sound, ON
1 Aug 2008 20:00 Blue Skies Music Fest – with Brian Macmillan Clarendon, ON
2 Aug 2008 20:00 Blue Skies Music Fest – with Brian Macmillan Clarendon, ON
3 Aug 2008 20:00 Blue Skies Music Fest – with Brian Macmillan Clarendon, ON
5 Sep 2008 19:30 Hugh Foster Hall – “Just Milton Folks” Series with Brian Macmillan Milton, ON
6 Sep 2008 20:00 House Concert Waterloo, ON
13 Sep 2008 20:00 Elk Mountain House Concert Series Asheville, NC
14 Sep 2008 8:00 Jubilee Community Asheville, NC
20 Sep 2008 20:00 Salem Art Works Salem, NY
22 Sep 2008 20:00 Dryden Community Center Cafe Dryden, NY
23 Oct 2008 20:00 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference Ottawa, ON
24 Oct 2008 20:00 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference Ottawa
25 Oct 2008 20:00 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference Ottawa, ON
26 Oct 2008 20:00 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference Ottawa, ON
29 Oct 2008 20:00 The Bees Knees Morrisville, Vermont
28 Mar 2009 20:00 Perth House Concert Series Perth, ON
25 Jul 2009 20:00 Knox Acoustic Cafe Owen Sound, ON